


Meeting With Destiny

by allielee2014



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 00:12:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3629442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allielee2014/pseuds/allielee2014
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a young Baelfire finds a beautiful young women, injured in the woods, he knows his papa can fix things. What he doesn't realize, is that he may just have set up his father meeting his true love.<br/>Short AU. Spinner!Rumple. Written as a birthday gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meeting With Destiny

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RosexKnight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosexKnight/gifts).



> I'm wrote this for a fantastic writer/friend's birthday. Happy Birthday Rosexknight! You're amazing and I hope you like this little story. :)

“Papa, Papa, come quick!” The young boy shouted, bursting through the front door of the humble shack of a home. 

“Baelfire, what have I told you about running near the fireplace?” Rumple scolded, his tone was forgiving, but had more than a tint of sternness to it as well. 

“I’m sorry, Papa.” The boy crossed his legs, upset for having so blatantly ignored a warning that his father had given so many times before. 

“It’s alright.” Rumple made his way to his son,, leaning heavily on his walking staff the entire time. “Just don’t do it again.” After a momentary lull between the two, Rumple spoke again, “Now what was it you were so eager to come and tell me?” 

A flash seemed to have gone through Baelfire’s eyes, “I forgot! How could I have forgotten that? Oh, Papa, come,” He pulled at his father’s arm, “There’s a girl in the forest and she-”

“Wh-what?” Rumple asked, his grip tightening on his staff, 

“Follow me!” The boy must have decided that showing his father would be easier than trying to explain everything to him. 

About fifteen minutes later, the father and son duo reached their destination in the thick grove of trees and shrubbery that led into town. Baelfire skipped ahead of his father when he saw the young woman’s body, 

“Bae, wait!” Rumple called, he knew these parts could be dangerous and had no desire for his son to be here without him. What had Bae been doing here anyways? Rumple had to force that troublesome thought out of his mind, and hobbled up behind his son. 

“Is she alive, Papa?” Baelfire was knelt near the woman’s head, and the sight alone was rather gruesome. The young lady was very young, very pretty; she couldn’t have been over twenty-five. An elaborate golden dress clothed her, but her chestnut hair was little more than a complete mess, and blood had managed to stain her outfit as well as her face and arms. 

“I… I don’t kn-know. Move out of the way, Boy.” Rumple pushed his arm in front of Bae, and carefully knelt down beside the girl. He pressed his index and middle fingers to her neck, searching for the main artery there. It took some time, but eventually he found it. “She’s alive.” Rumple declared, he was very thankful that his twelve year old hadn’t just stumbled upon a dead body. “She’s hurt something bad, though.”

“What are we going to do? We can’t just leave her here!” Baelfire exclaimed, his hands waving a little too dramatically. 

“We have to bring her back home.” Rumple stated, his voice quivering. This was the last thing he wanted his son to be seen. A child didn’t need to see a person so close to death and then watch their parents deal with the situation. It didn’t matter what children should and shouldn’t witness, though, this was happening. 

Forcing himself to focus on the task at hand, Rumple shook the woman’s shoulders very lightly. It took a few seconds, but the woman did flutter her eyes open and mumble something.

“Miss,” Rumple eased on the shaking, “Miss, are you alright?” 

“I’m… Wh-where am I?” 

“You’re in the Enchanted Forrest. I don’t know what happened, but it looks like you’re hurt. My son found you and then came and got me, we’re going to take you back to our home now. Is that okay?” Rumple felt the need to explain everything to the woman, even though she was half lethargic and obviously she hadn’t comprehended most of what he had said.

“Mhm..” A slow murmur was the only form of consent; it was good enough for the spinner, though. She was still awake, but it seemed like she could’ve slipped back into unconsciousness at any time. 

“Bae, I need you to be a big boy.” Rumple’s eyes pled with his son, Bae was more than eager to be of any assistance. “I’d do it myself, but I   
don’t know how I’d manage in time.” 

“What is it, what do you need me to do?” Bae’s eyes were alight.

Rumple eyed the woman once more, she was very petite, and Bae was a sturdy boy for his age and the circumstances in which he lived. “I need you to carry her home. You need to be gentle; the lady has obviously been through something really serious, you wouldn’t want to hurt her even more.” Unaware to his actions, Rumple nibbled on his lower lip, “I’d do it myself, but there’s no way I could carry her and use this,” he shook his staff a bit, “at the same time.” 

“It’s alright, Papa. I’ll be real careful.” Nodded, as if that would prove anything to his father, Bae bent to pick the girl up in her arms. She was even lighter than he had expected. 

The entire time spent taking the girl back to their house, Bae was subjected to listening to his father rattle on about how he had to be extra careful, and the chores he’d need to do when they got home, the things he could do to assist in caring for the injured woman. All his father’s lists seemed to blur together, but the boy kept nodding and replied to everything with, “Yes, Papa.” 

Opening the door to their home, Rumple scowled at the humble setting. It was no place to care for a lady- especially one who was obviously from wealthy roots. It was run down, all the furniture was either broken or the wood was peeling. The floor was dirt, sporadically covered with thin excuses for rugs. Instinctively, Rumple’s eyes went to the part of the home he was most embarrassed with- the mattresses. They were only maybe a couple inches off the ground, stuffed with straw. The pillows weren’t much better, thin and made from any soft materials they had been able to find. He sighed, there wasn’t anywhere better they had, he would’ve gladly turned anywhere into a makeshift hospital for her- had they had the means to do so. 

“Lay her on my mattress, Bae.” His voice was weak and quivery, despite the measures he had gone to in order to ensure it had sounded certain.

Rumple had stayed with the woman, trying to untangle her hair from the mats of blood in it, He has sent his son to fetch some warm water, and was now waiting, Once Bae returned, he’d clean this girl up, and they’d know just how serious her injuries were. 

She was breathing, and she had been the entire time, which told Rumple that she would certainly be alright in the long run. He had a feeling in his gut that her appearance-blood and scrapes about her body- was a much more gruesome scene compared to the injuries she’d actually have Still, he refused to part from her side. If anything did happen to go wrong, or if she should have woken, he wanted to be right there to explain things to her.

A few minutes later, the woman did wake. Her eyes batted open, slowly and as if a weight were on them, and it took her a moment to focus them. “Wh-“

“Sh,” Rumple hushed the woman, meek and almost afraid, “It’s alright.” He had certainly seen th e confusion and fear in her eyes, “I’m not going to hurt you.” He took his hand out of her hair, “My boy, he found you in the woods. You were hurt pretty bad, so he came and got me. It’s nothing too bad, I’m sure, but-”

“Who are you?” The woman asked, but just then the door slammed open again.

“Here’s the water, Papa, its nice and warm, just like you said!” 

“Thank you.” Rumple unintentionally ignored the woman’s question, distracted by Bae. “Bring it here, please.” The boy listened to his father’s command, and then asked for something else he could do. Rumple wasn’t sure what to have Bae do at the moment, he did need some time alone with this woman though, “How about you go grab some wood for the fire. It’s already chopped up; I just need it to be brought in.”

“Yes, Papa.” 

Rumple smiled, and watched as Baelfire bounced out the door. If he had never done anything worthwhile in his life, and even if he never did, it would not, he decided, be a waste. Baelfire was his pride and joy and, despite the village’s harsh criticism of him, Rumple knew that his son loved him, and he loved Bae. He’d do absolutely anything for that child. How he-a coward- ended up with such a great son, he’d never know, but he was thankful for it.

“Excuse me,” A sweet voice, soft and kind, brought him back to the present.

“Yes?” He looked down at the girl, dipping a white washrag in the lukewarm water,

“You still haven’t told me you name.” 

“My name?” Rumple dragged the cloth along the outline of her face, then toward the center. There really wasn’t as much blood as he had predicted, “M-my name is Rumplestiltskin.”

“Rumplestiltskin…That’s a unique name.” Belle giggled, but not in a condescending way like so many others did. She just seemed as though she were happy to have made a new acquaintance. 

“Yeah, it is. I guess my family were… Very unique people.” He cringed as memories of his father and aunts played through his mind. 

Aside from a few scratches, her face was now flawless. It took him a few seconds to take in the beautiful face that had previously been bloodstained. Two big and beautiful blue eyes sat in the middle of her porcelain face, framed by dark matted curls. Her lips were a natural red shade, and some of the most inviting he’d ever see, he wished that he could just bend down and kiss them. What kind of wish was that, though? This woman was gorgeous, much younger than he, and only a guest in his modest home until she was better. As soon as she could, she would be out the door and never speak to him or his boy ever again. She was as lovely as they come, and why would something that precious want to be with him, a crippled spinner? The real question in all of this was why was he even thinking of this? He didn’t know her at all, he was simply doing what any person with a heart would do-caring for their fellow person in her time of need. It wasn’t like that implied anything. She was beautiful, and seemed very kind, but nothing would ever become of this fantasy that had somehow warped his mind. Rumple shook his head, bringing the rag down to clear away the blood on her arm.

“What happened to me?” The woman asked, lifting her head a bit to inspect he body.

“I’m not quite sure, but I’ll ell you what I know later. First you need some rest.” He finished dabbing at a deep flesh wound in her arm.

“Okay.” She agreed, she leaned back onto the mattress. “I’m Belle, by the way, and thank you for doing this. I know you didn’t have to-”

“No matter, how could I just leave someone hurt if there was something I could do about it?” He sucked his lower lip inward; he couldn’t stop what spilled from his mouth next, “That’s a very lovely name, Belle.” The sound of the name sounded new on his lips, but pleasant and almost comforting. 

She giggled again. Belle was in pain, what did she have to giggle about? Rumple wondered. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yes,” Her eyes shone bright, even though there was still a hint of pain in her voice, “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you, Rumplestiltskin, are very handsome.” 

Rumple could feel his cheeks flush, and a beam grow across his face. It had been a long time since he’d been in the company of a woman, and no one had ever complimented him like that prior to now. Perhaps this was something he could think of. He always told Bae that things work out in mysterious ways, by design of something greater; maybe it was destiny for Bae to have found Belle in the woods this morning. Maybe this was the beginning of the greatest gift of all. Maybe he wasn’t just destined to be nothing but the town coward. Maybe true love was going happen for Rumple after all. For now, though, that was all too far into the future to think of. Right now, he simply had to get this lovely young woman healthy again. After that, well, time and fate would tell what was to become of them in the long run.


End file.
